The allure of a language

Long long time ago when I started learning Italian, many people asked me what attracted me to the language – the melody, the culture or the relative simplicity? Well, my honest answer was “this was the closest to Spanish” – a language I originally wanted to learn but did not offer in my high school. Of course, I never regretted my choice, Italian turned out to be a fantastic language to get acquainted with and later on at the university, it was fascinating to learn about the culture, the history of the language and the more I learnt, more I fell in love with Italian.

Since motivation is a key factor to successful language acquisition, it is really important that we know why we love the new language and keep this in mind even when we face the challenges of learning. I would like to share this interesting article on the allure of languages.

- Article by Kornelia Lasluisa; Illustration; Juan Leguizam/Wired